Holder assembly for cables and method

ABSTRACT

A knot assembly for cables is obtained by introducing a flexible cable through holes defined by two relatively rigid shaped metal rods and bending it around the rods and the cable itself; a loop made with this cable is held together by this knot assembly.

United States Patent Hogg [451 Apr. 24, 1973 HOLDER ASSEMBLY FOR CABLES[56] References Cited ND METH D A 0 UNITED STATES PATENTS [76] Inventor:James W. Hogg, 6216 Hillsboro Road, Nashville Tenn 1,599,040 9/1926Clisby ..24/l29 C [22] Filed: 1970 Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimr'odt[21 APPL 94,056 Atmrney-Christen & Sabol I 57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl...24/l29 C, 289/18 51 1111.01 .,..Fl6g 11/14 A knot assembly for cablesis Obtained y introducing [58 Field of Search ..2s9/1.2, 18, 1.5; aflexible cable thwugh holes defined y two relatively rigid shaped metalrods and bending it around the rods and the cable itself; a loop madewith this cable is held together by this knot assembly.

3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure HOLDER ASSEMBLY FOR CABLES AND METHOD Thepresent invention relates to knot assemblies and more particularly to aknot assembly for flexible cables. Illustrative cables used in thisinvention are plastic coated stranded metal cables, stranded metalcables without plastic coating, plastic coated stranded fiberglasscables, plastic coated stranded dacron cables, extruded syntheticplastic (e.g., neoprene) stretch tie-down cables, and the like.

Plastic coated metal cables comprising a core of stranded metal wiresand a plastic coating completely surrounding said core are well knownand find widespread applications due to their flexibility, their smooth,not hurting surface and their resistance to rusting. They can be usedfor instance in pull cords, tennis net supports, clothes lines, animalattachment lines, in the sailing boat industry, in the camping industryand in emergency cases.

In the past the main disadvantage of this kind of cable has been thedifficulty of effectively assembling two lengths of cable in order toobtain an extension, or to form a loop. A conventional knot did notresist high forces applied to it because of the relative stiffness ofthe cable and its smooth surface. Therefore metal clamps have been usedwhich cut into the plastic coating, thus providing resistance toslippage, but damaging the cable.

One object of the present invention consists therefore in providing aknot assembly for flexible cables, which assures resistance to slippageand can easily be tied or untied without damaging the cable.

Another object of the present invention consists in providing a methodfor obtaining a knot assembly of the above features.

In accordance with these objects the present invention provides a knotassembly formed of two lengths of said flexible cable and two relativelyrigid inserting means each being formed with two holes separated by anintermediate portion, said holes being larger than the double of thediameter of said flexible cable, all said holes of both inserting meansbeing aligned in series, said lengths of cable being interlaced withsaid rigid inserting means.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, with reference to the accompanied drawing, which shows a knotassembly according to the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, two lengths la and lb of a flexible cable1 are integral to form a loop 4. Two relatively rigid, preferably equal,shaped metal rods 2 and 3 are each shaped to define a first hole 2a, 3aand a second hole 21:, 3c, separated from each other by an intermediateportion 2b, 3b of said shaped rod, thus defining, as shown in thedrawing, two figure eight shaped members. Said holes are slightly largerthan the double of the diameter of cable 1 so as to permit an easyinsertion of two cables in each hole, but not being too large, as thatwould result in an undesired bulkiness of the knot assembly.

A suitable separation between said shaped rods 2 and 3 has shown to beapproximately the width of one of said figure eight shaped members, butthis is not intended to be a limiting factor of the invention.

Said holes 2a, 2c, 3a, 30 are aligned in series, and cable 1 extendsupwardly through hole 20, over said intermediate portion 2b, downwardlythrough hole 2c, upwardly through hole 3a, over said intermediateportion 3b, downwardly through hole 3c, thence forming loop 4 which canbe bent around any bar, ring or the like for the purpose of fixation ofthe cable 1 said cable 1 then extending downwardly through hole 3c,under said intermediate portion 3b, upwardly through hole 34, downwardlythrough hole 20, under said intermediate portion 2b, upwardly throughhole 2a, and around and under section lb of cable 1 extending over saidintermediate portion 2b of said shaped rod 2, section 1a of cable 1projecting outside of the contact point with said section 1b.

It is to be understood that the words upwardly and downwardly used inthis description only refer to a relative position of the shaped rods,but are intended to limit the invention.

A method according to the present invention to obtain the said knotassembly will now be described. Said flexible cable 1 is introducedupwardly through hole 2a, led over said intermediate portion 2b,introduced downwardly through hole 20, upwardly through hole 30, ledover said intermediate portion 3b, introduced through hole 30, bent intosaid loop 4, introduced downwardly through hole 3c, led under saidintermediate portion 3b, introduced upwardly through hole 311,downwardly through hole 20, led under said intermediate portion 2b,introduced upwardly through hole 2a, bent tightly around section 1b ofcable 1 and inserted between said intermediate portion 2b and saidsection lb. Finally both sections 1a and 1b are pulled together to makesure that section 1a is fixedly clenched. Section la should projectoutside the clenching point approximately a length sufficient to permitto be plied over itself, since a too short length causes the section 1ato be stiff, thus not allowing it to seat itself against theintermediate portion 2b, and provides the danger of said sectionslipping out under load conditions.

The use of at least two shaped metal rods has been found to be necessaryto provide the required resistance to slippage of the knot assemblysince one shaped rod alone would not develop enough breaking strength ofthe cable. This resistance to slippage or breaking strength is based onthe friction created between the cable and the shaped metal rods by theassembly according to the invention. Said friction is basically producedby three different characteristic features of the knot assembly:

a. In the clenching point of the section 1a between section lb and theintermediate portion 2b an increase of the force applied to the section1b results in an increase of the clenching pressure on the section la,thus also resulting in an increase of the friction which prevents saidsection 10 from slippage.

b. The changes of direction of the axis of the cable due to the fact ofinterlacing it with the shaped metal rods cause the pressure of thecable against the said shaped rods to be increased when applying a forceon said cable, resulting in a further increase of the frictionpreventing the slippage of the cable on said shaped rods. The use of twoshaped rods is important because it increases the number of said changesof direction.

c. The scissor effect accomplished on several parts of i the shapedmetal rods contributes to clench the metal rod between two portions ofcable, thus increasing the pressure between said rod and the cable andconsequently the friction preventing the slippage of the cable on saidshaped rods. The greatest contribution to the whole resistance toslippage of the assembly is originated by the feature described under a,that is in the clenching point of section la.

Thus, the present invention provides an efficient knot assembly forflexible cables, which can easily be tied or untied despite the relativestiffness of such a cable.

It is to be understood that the present invention shall not be limitedto the specific embodiment herein described, as various modificationscan be realized within the scope covered by the following claims.

What is claimed is: I

l. Holder assembly for cables, including two lengths of flexible cable,two relatively rigid inserting means each being formed with two holesseparated by an intermediate portion, said holes being larger than thedouble of the diameter of said flexible cable, all said holes of bothinserting means being aligned in series, a first length of said cableextending upwardly through a first said hole of a first said insertingmeans, over said intermediate portion thereof, downwardly through thesecond said hole thereof, upwardly through a first said hole of thesecond said inserting means, over said intermediate portion thereof,downwardly through the second said hole thereof, the second length ofsaid cable extending downwardly through the second said hole of thesecond said inserting means, under said intermediate portion thereoftoprovide a scissor effect in combination with that part of said firstlength passing over said intermediate portion to clench saidintermediate portion, upwardly through the first said hole thereof,downwardly through the second said hole of the first said insertingmeans, under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissoreffect in combination with that part ofsaid first length passing oversaid intermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion, upwardlythrough the first said hole thereof and around and under the firstlength of cable extending over said intermediate portion of the firstsaid inserting means.

2. Holder assembly as defined in claim 1 providing a loop termination,wherein said two lengths of flexible cable are integral and form a loopand said inserting means comprises two, relatively rigid, shaped metalrods each of which is shaped to define two holes separated from eachother by an intermediate portion of said shaped rods, said holes beinglarger than the double of the diameter of said flexible cable, all saidholes of both shaped rods being aligned in series, said cable extendingupwardly through a first said hole of a first said shaped rod, over saidintermediate portion thereof, downwardly through the second said holethereof, upwardly through a first said hole of the second said shapedrod, over said intermediate portion thereof, downwardly through thesecond said hole thereof, thence forming said loop, and extendingdownwardly through the second said hole of the second said shaped rod,under the intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissor effect incombination with that part of said first length passing over saidintermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion, upwardlythrough the first said hole thereof, downwardly through the second saidhole of the first said shaped rod, under said intermediate portionthereof to provide a scissor effect in combination with that part ofsaid first length passing over said intermediate portion to clench saidintermediate portion, upwardly through the first said hole thereof, andaround and under the cable extending over said intermediate portion ofthe first said shaped rod.

3. A method to obtain a holder assembly for cable to provide a loopincluding two relatively .rigid inserting means which comprise two,relatively rigid, shaped metal rods each of which is shaped to definetwo holes separated from each other by an intermediate portion of saidshaped rods, said holes being larger than the double of the diameter ofsaid flexiblecable, allsaid holes of both shaped rods being aligned inseries, comprising the steps of introducing said flexible cable upwardlythrough a first said hole ,of a first shaped metal rod, leading it oversaid intermediate portion thereof, introducing said cable downwardlythrough the second said hole thereof, upwardly through a first said holeof the second said shaped rod, leading it over said intermediate portionthereof, introducing said cable downwardly through the second said holethereof, bending the cable into said loop, introducing said cabledownwardly through the second said hole of the second said shaped rod,leading it under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissoreffect in combination with that part of said first length passing oversaid intermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion, in-

troducing it upwardly through the first said hole thereof, downwardlythrough the second said hole of the first said shaped rod, leading thecable under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissoreffect in combination with that part of said first length passing oversaid intermediate portion to clench' said intermediate portion,introducing it upwardly through the first said hole thereof, bending thecable tightly around the said cable extending over said intermediateportion, andclenching it between said intermediate portion and saidcable extending over said intermediate portion.

1. Holder assembly for cables, including two lengths of flexible cable,two relatively rigid inserting means each being formed with two holesseparated by an intermediate portion, said holes being larger than thedouble of the diameter of said flexible cable, all said holes of bothinserting means being aligned in series, a first length of said cableextending upwardly through a first said hole of a first said insertingmeans, over said intermediate portion thereof, downwardly through thesecond said hole thereof, upwardly through a first said hole of thesecond said inserting means, over said intermediate portion thereof,downwardly through the second said hole thereof, the second length ofsaid cable extending downwardly through the second said hole of thesecond said inserting means, under said intermediate portion thereof toprovide a scissor effect in combination with that part of said firstlength passing over said intermediate portion to clench saidintermediate portion, upwardly through the first said hole thereof,downwardly through the second said hole of the first said insertingmeans, under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissoreffect in combination with that part of said first length passing oversaid intermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion, upwardlythrough the first said hole thereof and around and under the firstlength of cable extending over said intermediate portion of the firstsaid inserting means.
 2. Holder assembly as defined in claim 1 providinga loop termination, wherein said two lengths of flexible cable areintegral and form a loop and said inserting means comprise two,relatively rigid, shaped metal rods each of which is shaped to definetwo holes separated from each other by an intermediate portion of saidshaped rods, said holes being larger than the double of the diameter ofsaid flexible cable, all said holes of both shaped rods being aligned inseries, said cable extending upwardly through a first said hole of afirst said shaped rod, over said intermediate portion thereof,downwardly through the second said hole thereof, upwardly through afirst said hole of the second said shaped rod, over said intermediateportion thereof, downwardly through the second said hole thereof, thenceforming said loop, and extending downwardly through the second said holeof the second said shaped rod, under the intermediate portion thereof toprovide a scissor effect in combination with that part of said firstlength passing over said intermediate portion to clench saidintermediate portion, upwardly through the first said hole thereof,downwardly through the second said hole of the first said shaped rod,under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissor effect incombination with that part of said first length passing over saidintermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion, upwardlythrough the first said hole thereof, and around and under the cableextending over said intermediate portion of the first said shaped rod.3. A method to obtain a holder assembly for cable to provide a loopincluding two relatively rigid inserting means which comprise two,relatively rigid, shaped metal rods each of which is shaped to definetwo holes separated from each other by an intermediate portion of saidshaped rods, said holes being larger than the double of the diameter ofsaid flexible cable, all said holes of both shaped rods being aligned inseries, comprising the steps of introducing said flexible cable upwardlythrough a first said hole of a first shaped metal rod, leading it oversaid intermediate portion thereof, introducing said cable downwardlythrough the second said hole thereof, upWardly through a first said holeof the second said shaped rod, leading it over said intermediate portionthereof, introducing said cable downwardly through the second said holethereof, bending the cable into said loop, introducing said cabledownwardly through the second said hole of the second said shaped rod,leading it under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissoreffect in combination with that part of said first length passing oversaid intermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion,introducing it upwardly through the first said hole thereof, downwardlythrough the second said hole of the first said shaped rod, leading thecable under said intermediate portion thereof to provide a scissoreffect in combination with that part of said first length passing oversaid intermediate portion to clench said intermediate portion,introducing it upwardly through the first said hole thereof, bending thecable tightly around the said cable extending over said intermediateportion, and clenching it between said intermediate portion and saidcable extending over said intermediate portion.